Rain was a relief, but not enough

Gainesville got some rain Tuesday afternoon, but not enough to make an impact on lake levels.

"That’s the best description of it," state climatologist David Stooksbury said. "We just got a little bit of rain."

Miriam Sellers, official weather observer for Gainesville, said that the city had received 0.7 inches of rain by about 4:30 p.m., but she said she anticipated a little more before the end of the night. Sellers records the rainfall every morning at 7 a.m. She said this was the most rain the city had received in one day since Sept. 15 when it rained nearly two inches.

"That was about the total for the whole month," Sellers said.

She said it only rained two days last month.

Stooksbury said the rain was the beginning of a cold front, and it will usher in more fall-like weather for next week. However, it most likely will not bring more rain because fall-like weather is usually drier weather, he said.

"This may be the only rain we see for the next week," Stooksbury said. "This isn’t going to have any major impact."

He said the area would need an extended period, perhaps weeks, of rainfall to make an impact on the lake level.

An extended period of rain is not in the forecast, as far as Stooksbury can see.

"At least it will help the plants, the grass a little bit," he said.

October is historically the driest month, but already this month the area has received almost as much rain as it did in September.

"That’s just because September was so extremely dry," Stooksbury said.

Storms from Friday and Saturday also brought a little rain, but only about half an inch, Sellers said.